Thursday, November 25, 2010

GODDESS INITIATION by Franceska De Grandis

Goddess Initiation is both "a self-help program and a Celtic shamanic journey," writes Francesca De Grandis. The month-to-month chapter format reads like a yearlong self-improvement project. Each chapter contains a month's worth of spells, practical exercises, rituals, and prayers that guide readers toward the goddess initiation. De Grandis (Be a Goddess) offers a well-rounded lesson plan that emphasizes creativity, career success, increased sexual passion, and the clarification of one's calling or "priesthood." "For example, one reader's priesthood might mean being a stay-at-home mother who devotes her time to raising her children, while another woman might minister by recycling or saving the rain forest," explains De Grandis. Goddess Initiation is based on De Grandis's work as a teacher at The Third Road in San Francisco, where she specializes in Celtic mysticism. Count on plenty of faery talk, a healthy dose of woman-to-woman humor, and an entirely enchanting, down-to-earth narrator. --Gail Hudson